Portable valve seat facer

ABSTRACT

A portable valve seat facer is disclosed having a flexible transmission line assembly, an adjustable mounting assembly and a grinding assembly. The transmission assembly comprises a flexible cable having one end adapted to be placed within a chuck of a hand drill. The other end of the cable is drivingly connected to the mounting assembly. The mounting assembly comprises a ring threadedly mounted on a rod, one end of which is connected to the cable. Three mounting plates are hingeably connected to the periphery of the ring. The proximal portions of the plates include elongated slots for slidably receiving a tongued plate which is fixedly connected to the other end of the rod. The distal portions of the plates are adapted to open and close about a valve head for retaining the valve head in a secured position. The outer extremities of the plates further include means for pivotally receiving the grinding assembly. The grinding assembly comprises a plurality of hooked tabs which are adapted to be removably mounted within a plurality of apertures formed within the extremities of the plates. The interior surfaces of the tabs are adapted to lie flush against the seating surface of the valve head to enable the grinding bits to assume the same angular orientation. The valve stem is then positioned within the valve chamber to act as a guide, with the grinding surfaces of the bits engaging the surface of the valve seat to reface the surface at the same angle as the valve head seating surface.

United States Patent 1 1 Rogers 1 May 28, 1974 PORTABLE VALVE SEAT FACER [76] Inventor: Jack Rogers, 6557 Costello Ave.,

Van Nuys, Calif. 91401 [22] Filed: Dec. 20, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 209,670

[52] U.S. Cl 51/241 VS [51] Int. Cl B24b 19/00 [58] Field of Search 51/241 VS, 241 G, 241 S;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,939,564 12/1933 McKenna 51/241 VS X Primary Examiner-James L. Jones, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmJackson & Jones [57] ABSTRACT A portable valve seat facer is disclosed having a flexible transmission line assembly, an adjustable mounting assembly and a grinding assembly. The. transmission assembly comprises a flexible cable having one end adapted to be placed within a chuck of a hand drill.

The other end of the cable is drivingly connected to the mounting assembly. The mounting assembly comprises a ring threadedly mounted on a rod, one end of which is connected to the cable. Three mounting plates are hingeably connected to the periphery of the ring. The proximal portions of the plates include elongated slots for slidably receiving a tongued plate which is fixedly connected to the other end of the rod. The distal portions of the plates are adapted to open and close about a valve head for retaining the valve head in a secured position. The outer extremities of the plates further include means for pivotally receiving the grinding assembly. The grinding assembly comprises a plurality of hooked tabs which are adapted to be removably mounted within a plurality of apertures formed within the extremities of the plates. The interior surfaces of the tabs are adapted to lie flush against the seating surface of the valve head to enable the grinding bits to assume the same angular orientation. The valve stem is then positioned within the valve chamber to act as a guide, with the grinding surfaces of the bits engaging the surface of thevalve seat to reface the surface at the same angle as the valve head seating surface.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PORTABLE VALVE SEAT FACER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to valve seat facers and more particularly to a portable valve seat facer adapted to be driven by hand drills or the like.

2. Description of the Prior Art After a set of valves have been utilized in an automobile engine for an extended period of time, the valves and the valve seats must be refaced to insure having a sealed engagement therebetween.

Heretofore, this refacing operation was complex, time consuming and expensive. The reason for this is that the valves had to be reground on a complex, lathe type dressing machine. These machines were quite large and bulky and because of their high cost, these machines were usually found only in large shops and automobile service departments.

Prior to the present invention, the machines used for regrinding valve seats were equally as complex. In such devices, a guide rod was positioned within each valve chamber, and a grinding wheel was rotated about the rod to frictionally engage the valve seat surface. As in the valve facer, the guide rod and grinding wheel assembly were mounted on large lathe type structures which were also complex and expensive.

The problems encountered with the valve facers have been obviated by the present inventor in a valve facing apparatus described in U. S. Pat. application Ser. No. 39,696 entitled Portable Valve Facer now U. S. Pat. No. 3,648,416, issued on Mar. 14, 1972.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problems encountered with the valve seat facers have been obviated by the present invention.

The valve seat facer comprises a plurality of mounting plates which are adapted to receive and secure the head of a valve. A grinding element is pivotally mounted on each mounting plate with each grinding element having an interior planar side engaging the seating surface of said valve head, and an exterior grinding side for frictionally engaging the valve seat. The grinding surface is parallel to the interior surface to enable the angular position of the valve head to determine the angular position of the grinding surface. This guarantees that the refaced valve seat will perfectly match the seating surface of the valve head.

An important advantage of the apparatus is that the mounting plates are hingeably mounted to enable the apparatus to receive any size valve head.

Moreover, since the grinding elements are also pivotally mounted, they can assume various angular positions, depending on the type of valve utilized.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the valve stem itself functions as a guide for the apparatus.

Still another advantage of the present invention is that the compactness of the unit and the flexible transmission line enables it to be driven by a portable hand drill or the like. As a result, a valve seat facer is provided which is inexpensive, simple in construction and easy to operate.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the valve seat facer of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the apparatus taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 3 illustrate a valve seat facer comprising an adjustable mounting assembly, a grinding assembly, and a flexible transmission line assembly.

The mounting assembly comprises a ring I mounted on a threaded rod or base member 2. A plurality of flanges 3 forming hinge mounts are spaced about the periphery of the ring 1. A pin 4 extends through each pair of hinges for pivotally supporting a mounting plate 5. The proximal portion of each plate 5 includes a slot 6 formedtherein for slidably receiving a corresponding tongue 7 of a plate 8. The plate 8 is fixedly attached to the one end of the threaded rod 2 by means of a screw 9. The distal portion 21 of each plate 5 is bent inwardly to receive and secure a valve head 10 (shown in broken lines). The distal portion 21 of each plate 5 also includes a slot for pivotally receiving a tongued element 11, each element having an interior planar or guiding surface 12 which is adapted to engage the seating surface 13 of the valve head 10. The external side of each of the elements 11 includes a grinding bit 14 mounted therein. The other end of the threaded rod 2 is adapted to be connected through a coupling 15 to a flexible transmission line 16 which, in turn, is adapted to be secured within a chuck 17 (shown in dotted lines) of a hand drill or the like.

OPERATION In discussing the operation of the apparatus, an exemplary valve 10 will be utilized which is adapted to extend througha valve chamber and be seated on a valve seat 18 shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. Initially, the valve head 10 is removed and inserted within the grip .of the mounting plates 5. This is accomplished by threading the ring 1 outwardly on the threaded rod 2. The fixed tongued plate 8 then functions as a cam to pivot the plates 5 outwardly as the ring 1 revolves downwardly on the rod 2. This movement causes the distal portions 21 of the plates 5 to open and receive the valve head 10. I

After insertion, the ring I is rotated in a reverse direction to move upwardly on the rod 2 to cause the plates 5 to move in the opposite direction to close around and secure the valve head 10. When this occurs, the elements 11 are mounted in such a manner that the interior planar or guiding side 12 engages the seating surface of the valve head 10. The valve stem is then positioned within the guide of the valve chamber (not shown). Upon lowering the valve stem, the grinding bits 14 engage the seating surface 18 of the valve seat at the same angle as the seating surface of the valve head. This is accomplished because the grinding surface is parallel to the interiors planar or guiding side 12 of the element 11. Afterwhich, the hand drill is turned on to rotate the flexible transmission line to rotate the entire assembly. This rotation of the grinding bits 14 functions to grind the surface of the valve seat 18. Upon completion, the entire assembly is again removed with the valve head taken out of the mounting plates and reinserted into the engine block.

It should be noted that the grinding elements 11 are easily removably to enable them to be easily substituted upon wear.

It should be noted that various modifications can be made to the apparatus while still remaining within the purview of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A portable valve seat facer for refacing the surface of a valve seat in a motor block or the like to sealingly receive a valve head having a seating surface, said facer comprising:

a base member adapted to be rotatably driven;

a plurality of mounting plates movably connected to the base member for receiving and securing the head of the valve;

means for moving the mounting plates; and

means for aligning a grinding surface at the same angle as the angle of the valve head seating surface including a plurality of grinding elements, each having a guiding surface on one side, and grinding material mounted only on the other side of the element, the grinding material forming a grinding surface parallel to the grinding surface, each element pivotally mounted on its respective mounting plate at the lower outer end thereof so that the guiding surface can operatively engage the seating surface of the valve head and position the grinding surface independent of the position of the mounting plate secured to the valve head.

2. The, invention of claim 1 further including a mounting ring, said mounting plates are hingeably connected about the periphery of said mounting ring and the distal'portion of each plate is adapted to engage and receive the periphery of the valve head.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein each mounting plate has a slot and the grinding element is mounted within the slot.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein the means for moving further includes a plurality of cam elements for moving said mounting plates into' and out of engagement with the valve head.

5. The invention of claim 2 wherein said mounting ring is-movably mounted on the base member.

6. The invention of claim 2 wherein the base member is connectedto a flexible power transmission line.

7. The-invention of claim 6- wherein the transmission line comprises means for extending into a chuck of a hand drill to be secured thereby. 

1. A portable valve seat facer for refacing the surface of a valve seat in a motor block or the like to sealingly receive a valve head having a seating surface, said facer comprising: a base member adapted to be rotatably driven; a plurality of mounting plates movably connected to the base member for receiving and securing the head of the valve; means for moving the mounting plates; and means for aligning a grinding surface at the same angle as the angle of the valve head seating surface including a plurality of grinding elements, each having a guiding surface on one side, and grinding material mounted only on the other side of the element, the grinding material forming a grinding surface parallel to the grinding surface, each element pivotally mounted on its respective mounting plate at the lower outer end thereof so that the guiding surface can operatively engage the seating surface of the valve head and position the grinding surface independent of the position of the mounting plate secured to the valve head.
 2. The invention of claim 1 further including a mounting ring, said mounting plates are hingeably connected about the periphery of said mounting ring and the distal portion of each plate is adapted to engage and receive the periphery of the valve head.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein each mounting plate has a slot and the grinding element is mounted within the slot.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein the means for moving further includes a plurality of cam elements for moving said mounting plates into and out of engagement with the valve head.
 5. The invention of claim 2 wherein said mounting ring is movably mounted on the base member.
 6. The invention of claim 2 wherein the base member is connected to a flexible power transmission line.
 7. The invention of claim 6 wherein the transmission line comprises means for extending into a chuck of a hand drill to be secured thereby. 